Anthony Bubalo

Anthony Bubalo is a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute. He was Deputy Director of the Institute between 2015 and 2018 and Research Director from 2012 to 2018. As Research Director he managed the Institute’s research output, including the commissioning and editorial processes. He has also produced research on a variety of Middle Eastern issues, including Middle East–Asia linkages, Islamism, democratisation, terrorism, and energy security. He comments on Middle Eastern politics for the Australian and international media outlets. He has written for The Australian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Financial Times, Ha’aretz and Asahi Shimbun newspapers, as well as The American Interest and ForeignPolicy.com. Before joining the Lowy Institute, Anthony was an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He served in Australian diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and Israel and was Middle East Analyst with the Office of National Assessments from 1996 to 1998.

Regardless of whether Australian forces are enlisted in any anti-Iran campaign, there is a risk that our troops, aircraft or ships in the Middle East may find themselves targeted in any Iranian retaliation.

'His highness criticised the actions of the United States in the South China Sea, describing such measures as being in conflict with Chinese and Saudi interests.'
This was the last line of an otherwise unremarkable article published last week in the Saudi newspaper, al-Watan. The Highness referred to was Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister, and the country's most powerful figure after his father, the King.

There has been a lot of parsing of yesterday's reputed snub of President Obama by King Salman of Saudi Arabia. It certainly was a snub. In 2009 the late King Abdullah greeted Obama off the plane during the US President's first to the Kingdom; yesterday King Salman sent the Governor of Riyadh to welcome the US President while he received his Gulf counterparts a few hundred metres down the runway.
The reasons for the snub are pretty obvious too.

'Egyptians are very easy to provoke. Two people can be talking among themselves about Morsi, then others jump in and interrupt. It happens on the tram or the train. Even though they don’t know one another, when they’re standing next to each other and don’t have the same opinion, they just jump in. Sometimes it even becomes physical. After observing the culture and characters of the Arab people, I support the use of military in transition.